Boston Show 2017 blog: Recap on three hectic days

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MacKnight Food Group rolled out several new products for Boston, including Salmon florets with dill weed, white sturgeon caviar and smoked extra virgin olive oil, all under the Macknight brand, said Hamish Rose.

The company also started offering its Capt. Jim’s Breakfast Sausage in a new format. Previously offered as a roll, it now comes portioned. MacKnight also brought a label printer in house and is now offering private label products for companies for 4-ounce items and foodservice size.

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Boston area-based US smoker Spence & Co. is targeting the more health conscious consumer with a new organic line of smoked salmon.

The product launched six months ago under the Harmony brand, which the company chose to send the message that this product is “in harmony with the environment and sustainable,” said Regional Sales Manager Mike Glickert.

The product is farmed Atlantic salmon from Europe and comes in 4-ounce packages. It’s shipped frozen and has a 21-day shelf life.

He also highlighted the group's other popular items, such as its classic Nova Lox smoked salmon, handmade pinwheels and Lox in a Box.

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Smoked trout produced by Ducktrap River of Maine recently received the Marine Stewardship Council certification for its wild sockeye salmon smoked salmon. The retail packs come in 4, 8 and 16 ounce as well as a 4 ounce pepper and garlic.

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ASMI has embraced the poke trend, said Executive Director Alexa Tonkovich.

Heather Sobol, domestic marketing specialist at ASMI, talks about what the group is doing to promote poke.

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Chilean salmon giant Multiexport and its shareholder Mitsui is teaming with the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) and Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program in an initiative designed to combat outbreaks of Salmonid Rickettsial Septicaemia (SRS) in Chile.

SRS reportedly costs the farmed salmon industry more than $300 million (€277.5 million) annually and can spread quickly, causing high mortalities if not treated quickly.

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Arguably the biggest trend at this year's show is the explosion of skin-pack seafood items for retail.

Booth after booth is showcasing gorgeous looking skin-pack trays of portioned seafood that seem perfect for the modern consumer and for the typical supermarket that is still saddled with a under-performing fresh fish counter.

The grab-and-go aspect of these products solves many of retail's woes, and many companies are using the words "game changer" to describe what is happening vis-a-vis the packaging.

Suppliers of the film and trays, such as Sealed Air, and the processing equipment to package the products, such as Reiser, are riding the wave of this trend, as well.

Are we in the midst of a game-changing  moment for seafood retail? Who knows. But let's hope so.

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The company had 19 sponsors and their representatives on hand during Boston.

The company's new hashtag, #wegetkraken, pushes the message that Samuels & Son is a fast paced company and it gets its business done quickly even when things get hectic.

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The Indonesian seafood industry will continue to benefit from ongoing fishery improvement projects (FIPs), especially in the cold chain sector, according to a representative from the Indonesian Fisheries Ministry who attended an SFP industry meeting in Boston today.

Nilanto Perbowo, Director General of Product Competitiveness at the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF), said SFP’s work inspiring industry stakeholders to start and operate FIPs in the region will especially have an impact in the years to come on cold chain markets.

Right now, he said, cold chain is of particular interest for future sustainability work, especially in leading species such as crab, snapper, and grouper. 

“They are looking for not only monetary benefit, but quality of the cold chain system,” he said of SFP and partner industry stakeholders.

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Beaver Street Fisheries debuted five new SKUs, all US-harvested wild shrimp products, during Boston.

“Once the domestic shrimp season begins, we’ll start promoting it more,” said Mark Frisch, executive vice president and co-owner.

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Celebrity Chef and seafood ambassador Barton Seaver is finishing up a neat project that should interest any and all who have enjoyed a career in the US seafood industry.

Seaver, the director of Harvard's Healthy and Sustainable Food Program, is writing a comprehensive history of seafood in America.

He is tracing seafood from it earliest origins in America through hundreds of years of changes -- from the advent of the fillet to canning and beyond. He focuses on the seafoods that form a collective history of our industry.

The book is due out later this fall.

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In an industry that's had a tough time marketing themselves, the Canadian province of Nova Scotia has found its footing.

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There is plenty of concern at the show over the White House's idea of a 20 percent border tax on imports.

Many say it could be devastating to seafood imports, which account for an estimated 90 percent of the edible seafood supply in the United States.

One supplier summed it up this way: "I don't think the administration knows where our food comes from."

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Barramundi supplier Kuhlbarra worked with Henry Funes of Columbus Hospitality Group and Marcy Bemiller of Candor Seafood to successfully get Kuhlbarra brand barramundi on the menu at Boston's Ostra restaurant.

The product is doing so well, says Joep Staarman, managing director of Kuhlbarra, that Ostra is keeping it on the menu after the show.

Fresh tilapia supplier PezCo is continuing on its mission to be as sustainable as possible, achieving various certificates left, right and center.

The company has BAP certificates across its hatcheries, grow outs, processing plants, and its feed mill is up next. It also has ASC certificates for its commercial office, grow outs and processing plants.

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More than double the number of Scotland’s top fish and seafood companies joined trade body Seafood Scotland and Chef Mark Greenaway at this year's Boston show.

The aim was to give Scottish seafood a boost in the North American market.

"The Scottish industry’s interest in the American market has spiked over the last year and it is pleasing to see trade shows such as the prestigious Seafood Expo in Boston being increasingly valued for their potential to establish new trade relationships between the UK and America," said Clare MacDougall, trade marketing manager at Seafood Scotland.

"The US is now Scotland’s largest market for combined food and drink export and remains the biggest Scottish salmon customer overseas with sales worth £155 million in 2016," she said.

"Therefore this export trade is crucial particularly for the Scottish seafood industry.”

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After nine months, the companies achieved the certification six weeks ago and it’ll be in retailers this April.

Albertson's and Vons grocery markets in southern California will carry it through Santa Monica and Hannaford’s on the east coast will carry it through the Bristol brand.

The 12-ounce frozen bags have a window in the back because “transparency is important to us and we wanted it to reflect on the packaging,” said Bristol.

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"By achieving this, we have become the first net fish producer in the salmon farming industry," said Chris Fream, national sales director at BluGlacier.

Farmed salmon largely depends on wild pelagic fish to fortify fish feed with the optimum level of omega-3s.

On average, salmon producers use between 1.5 kilos to 3 kilos of wild fish to produce a kilo of fish.

Silverside salmon utilizes a new diet that includes Alga-Prime DHA, an algae-meal based product.

Verlasso, another premium Chilean salmon brand, was the first brand to achieve a 1:1 fish-in-fish-out ratio. The fish is now rated as a 'good alternative' by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch.

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Shucks Maine Lobster's export market is Europe and Asia.

"China likes live lobster but in recent years, we've seen some growing interest in Asia for frozen product, particularly in southeast Asia, such as Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong," said the company's Caitlin Hathaway.

As for domestics, the company has a 50/50 split between retail and foodservice. In retail the company sells raw frozen lobster.

Its product comes in several product forms, such as whole lobster, tails, split tails, claw and knuckle meat.

"We're trying to cover all of our bases," O'Hanlon said. "Different certifications mean different things to different people."

The company has also expanded its Panama City processing facility and now can produce fresh and frozen portions and modified atmosphere products, allowing them to do more retail products.

"We want to continue to service the markets we have," he said. "And expand retail and foodservice lines to get closer to consumers."

"In five years, I see happier Americans, healthier Americans, that are well aware and conscious that they're eating the happiest salmon," he said.

It's a bit of Blue Apron and a bit of sustainability: Fishpeople's new seafood kits, which won Best New Retail Award at SENA's Seafood Excellence Awards, will bring in consumers with "fish fears" said Fishpeople's Jen Paragallo.

Mariner Seafood debuted its GO WILD brand of super chilled, grab-and-go seafood at the seafood show.

The ready-to-prepare line uses vacuum skin packaging (VSP) technology for wild-caught seafood, including Alaskan salmon, cod, haddock, flounder, pollock, Golden Redfish, domestic Gulf shrimp and sea scallops.

"As retailers understand how the proven VSP technology reduces handling, minimizes shrink and strengthens retail customer loyalty, they are certain to jump on board," said President Jack Flynn.

Aqquua's Charlie Siebenberg and Scott Cohn are saying something controversial: "Traceability is yesterday, authentication is today."

They're building an app -- due to launch this summer -- which consumers can use to trace their fish. The app, Fishly, was built to combat mislabeling and Siebenberg and Cohn hope to give consumers confidence in seafood.

"If you give tools to the consumer, consumption will go higher," he said.

Chris Pokorski of Southstream Seafoods is introducing show-goers new packaging and new products.

Canada-headquartered processor High Liner Foods on Monday announced the launch of 10 new products under its Sea Cuisine brand to US retailers.

Kroger, Target, Albertstons, Harvest Meat Company, Super Valu, Hy-Vee, Bashas, Shaws, Market Basket, Winco, and Walmart will list the products.

Cooking of the meals takes less than 30 minutes. They are packaged in a transparent, patented skin pack tray "to stimulate consumer curiosity by showcasing the fresh-looking, premium whole fillet cuts," the company said.

These products were part of a pilot launch in 1,200 Kroger locations last year.

Sustainable seafood certification program Friend of the Sea (FoS) is currently being audited by the benchmarking group Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI), said FoS Director Paolo Bray.

FoS has gone through some initial auditing, and Bray said he expects on-site audits after the Brussels seafood show in April.

So far, three certifications have been recognized by GSSI: Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM); Iceland Responsible Fisheries Management (IRFM); and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)

Walking around the show, it's obvious that salmon producers, especially farmed salmon producers, are looking to break into the poke game.

Several producers were showcasing new poke product and others talked about their efforts off the record.

Getting the right size cube of salmon that works for poke is a challenge. Several approaches are being used to find the optimum solution.

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The Norwegian Seafood Council streamed a live Q&A between its booth at the show and a salmon farm worker on a Grieg Seafood farm in Finnmark.

The even drew a crowd, and the farmer was asked questions about everything from sea lice management to farming techniques.

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Brian Perkins, egional director for the Americas at the MSC, took the opportunity at its Sunday afternoon reception to thank the fishermen that support the program.

Perkins began by asking for a moment of silence for all the fishermen "who left the dock in the last year and didn't come back," noting the dangers inherent in harvesting seafood.

There are 62 MSC-certified fisheries in the Americas, and Perkins asked the room toast all of the fishermen involved in those fisheries, thanking them for making meaningful change on the water.

"It's been a good transition, a slow transition," said Conway, who took over from his father, Terry Conway, who continues as executive chairman.

Conway said the company's new products, the Oysters Rockefeller and the Oysters Casino, have gained a lot of interest since their recent launch.

The Rockefeller includes include spinach, cheese and spices and the casino oysters are topped with crab meat, bell peppers and cheese.

The Oyster Collection package -- 6 Rockefeller and 6 casino oysters in a package -- are great for retail,club and even foodservice channels, the company said.

Plans to find a building to house a plant have halted.

Fishpeople Seafood and Open Blue took the winning titles Sunday at the 2017 Seafood Excellence Awards.

Fishpeople won the 'Best New Retail' award for its Seafood Meyer Lemon & Herb Panko Wild Alaska Salmon Kit. Open Blue won the 'Best New Foodservice' award for its Frozen Open Blue Cobia Fillet.

The judging panel of seafood buyers and industry experts from the retail and foodservice sectors conducted a live tasting of product finalists.

Fishpeople is at booth #2745 and Open Blue is at booth #1859.

Netherlands-based Lenger Seafoods is well known in Europe for its cockles, razor clams and other shellfish, but the company is branching out to serve the consumer market in Vietnam.

The plant has an annual production capacity of between 6,000 and 7,000 metric tons, said Sales Director Igor Kint.

It produces live, fresh, quick-frozen and cooked products, which can be packaged in a variety of ways.

Sealed Air's new packaging lets the customer see the fish from all sides, giving them "one more point of engagement," said Kari Dawson-Ekeland, director of marketing at the company.

She should know -- Sealed Air's customers are split between retail and foodservice and include big names such as Marine Harvest for its Rebel Fish packaging.

Regal Springs CEO Achim Eichenlaub has only been on the job five months, but already he’s seeing the massive opportunities to expand the Regal brand.

Retail in particular poses some major opportunities for the group. To capitalize on what is essentially the only major tilapia brand in the world, Eichenlaub has strengthened his sales team by 50-60 percent in just 12 months.

“But we’re still at the beginning of the journey,” he said.

Though the brand is a priority, the group is still working with the trade.

“We’ll keep doing that, whether it’s Trident of High Liner or Gorton’s,” he said.

Developing markets in Central America pose great promise for the brand, Eichenlaub said, and eventually the group will crack the EU market.

“We’re reviewing it,” he said. “There is opportunity with pangasius’ problems, and we have all the arguments we need to establish more confidence in the trade.”

Scottish Seas, a cooperative of Scottish fishermen, is at the show promoting their wild-caught seafood to US retail and foodservice buyers.

The fleet of around 60 vessels lands fish in many Scottish ports, including Peterhead. Scottish Seas joins together three regional fish producers' organizations (FPOs): the Aberdeen FPO, Orkney FPO, West of Scotland FPO.

"It's a matter of realizing that [the disparity] may be there for a while," Flynn said.

While Darik has been selling a lot of shrimp, Flynn said the market has been "pretty lousy." Lobster, however, which Darik sells to white tablecloth restaurants and cruise lines throughout the US, "has been great."

Sushi is hot, as everyone knows. And the folks at Acme Smoked Fish are capitalizing on this trend with the release of its new sashimi product.

The item will be in stores by June and can be used as part of a larger meal or as a snack.

The sashimi salmon loins a sliced into one-quarter inch pieces.

“We want to cooperate both to bring our products into the US market, but also to help them penetrate the Chinese market with theirs,” Zoneco Chairman Wu Hougang said.

Zoneco also is looking to cooperate with US companies on reprocessing as well.

“We want to partner to help them sell their products – we have the cold storage, we have the services,” Hougang said.

The Chinese group is also trying something different with their US approach: bringing the Zoneco brand direct to the consumer. The company sees an opening for its premium products, including caviar and abalone, for the Asian markets.

Mitsubishi-owned Norwegian giant Cermaq knows how to farm salmon, and they know how to do it sustainably. What they’ve lacked, however, is a clear way to communicate the efforts they’ve made to improve their farming practices from an ecological and food quality standpoint.

To underscore Cermaq’s work, the group introduced a new branding profile Sunday, and a new way for buyers to help communicate the real story behind farmed salmon, including the people.

“Salmon farming is maturing,” said Anders Tofte Wilhelmsen, group marketing director at Cermaq. “Now is the time to step up and show who we are. And there is no filter on our message.”

Arild Aakre, head of sales in North America at the firm, said Cermaq is “a hidden jewel” when it comes to sustainability and quality.

“It’s a real opportunity for us to work in partnership with our customers to help tell the story,” Aakre said.

Wilhelmsen said the goal is not to create a B-2-C brand, but rather a stamp of quality, regardless of the region Cermaq’s fish was farmed in.

“Think of it as ‘Intel Inside’ for farmed salmon,” he said.

Mike Klein of Alaskan Jack's said the company continues to expand it product line of value-added items for retail.

New at the show are the company's Epanadas -- Mango Chile and Creamy Chipotle Lime -- and spring rolls in Southeast Asian and Firecracker flavors. Both are rolling out now.

And in April, the company will splash onto the shopping channel QVC to promote its new cod loin product.

Alaskan Jack's products are sold in over 12,000 retail stores across 25 supermarket banners, said Klein.

While Cannon Fish "normally focuses on custom products for foodservice," it  recently launched new retail packs this past holiday season, said President Pat Rogan.

Swordfish, wild sockeye salmon, ahi tuna and Pacific cod now comes in 1-pound frozen retail packs

You can check out the products at booth #1526.

"We're also working with breathable film now. You can thaw the product right in the package and it's available to foodservice and retail," he said.

Omega Azul's Terry Morris says his company is ready to launch its Baja Kampachi, which he raises on his hatchery and farm in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

"We hope to improve our markets beyond the US and Mexico," he said.

Renton, Washington-based Orca Bay Seafoods has three new retail and foodservice products out to show off at the show: A Mexican-style soup with cod and shrimp called albondigas; Korean noodle soup called jjampong made with cod, shrimp, mussels and squid; and cioppino with cod, calamari, mussels and shrimp.

Calendar Islands Maine Lobster launched two new products: Garlic Herb Butter Maine Lobster Tails and Whole Raw Maine Lobster.

The items were in R&D for about four months and will be in the market come spring 2017. Stop by booth #919 to check them out.

The lobster harvesting and marketing firm saw a 10 percent increase in gross profit last year compared to 2015 "as a result of branding and telling our fishermen's story," VP of Sales Emily Lane.

Of its production, 40 percent goes to domestic and the rest is international. The international market is mainly foodservice in Europe and Asia. Lane said they're starting to enter the Vietnam and are looking to grow its Asian market presence.

Bill Ott, Research Development Manager for Trans Ocean Products showcases the new products being featured at this years show.

About a year ago, a strategic meeting at UK seafood giant Young’s Seafood came up with a novel plan: explore the US market.

Young’s Marketing Direct Yvonne Adam said consumer research showed Americans were ready for something different, and encouraged them to pursue the concept.

“They loved the difference,” Adam said. “They were really looking for innovation, and from packaging to recipes we are able to supply that.”

Young’s has tailored brands for the US market; as an example, its Seaside Specials brand is aimed at highlighting the UK provenance, and helping consumers make the association between Young’s 200-year history as a seafood supplier and the quality of the products it produces.

“We’re trying to bring that emotional equity that our other ranges have in the UK to the US," Adam said.

The US offering isn't "done" per se, Adam said. The Young's team will take feedback from the Boston show and incorporate that into its product development.

Though the project is in its early phases, Young's has high hopes.

“This could be really big,” Showalter said. “The footprint of some of these retailers is massive.”

For those of you looking to feature a lesser-used fish, think West Coast rockfish, says Bob O’Bryant, vice president of Sales and Marketing at Bornstein Seafood.

The quota for the fish is seeing some sharp increases that should extend into the next few years.

The fish works great as a substitute for mahi-mahi and makes a great seafood option for fish tacos and other applications.

High Liner Foods' Corporate Director of Sustainability Bill DiMento marveled at how far conservation talks in the industry have come in the past two decades at the Conservation Alliance Reception the night before the show kicked off.

"Before, the only approach to conservation was regulatory," DiMento said. "The industry was seen as the bad guy."

Now, the seafood industry is "radically different," he said. "Today, we fight together on challenges. We see the signs of progress in the works."

Canada is sending a delegation once again to this year's show.

Dominic LeBlanc, minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and Lawrence MacAulay, minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, are leading Canada’s delegation.

Canada exported a record $6.6 billion worth of fish and seafood products in 2016, up 10 percent from 2015. The United States remains its largest export market, accounting for 65 percent of our exports worth $4.3 billion.

Minister LeBlanc will hold a roundtable discussion on Canada’s plan to achieve its marine conservation targets by protecting 5 percent of marine and coastal areas by 2017 and 10 percent by 2020.

In addition,  a delegation of 15 seafood companies from Nova Scotia will also be showcasing their products at the expo.

East Coast Seafood Group will use SafetyChain’s food safety and quality assurance (FSQA) automation solutions to achieve greater visibility and standardization across their FSQA operations at five facilities located in Massachusetts, Maine, and New Brunswick, helping to streamline stakeholder communications.

Our partnership with SafetyChain enables us to achieve greater visibility, transparency, and control across our food safety and quality operations and we are excited to leverage SafetyChain’s best-in-class food safety and quality management solution," said Robert Blais, COO of East Coast Seafood Group.

Given the storm that hit the East Coast this week, show-goers are bit preoccupied with the weather.

Fear not. I just arrived and it is sunny and mid '30s.

The rest of the week looks pleasant as well, if my Yahoo weather app is to be believed. There is still a tiny bit of snow on the ground but nothing to worry about.

Mainly, though, we clog it full of all the seafood news that matters from the showfloor, and that means you need to check back often!

Welcome to the show!

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